AI Coding Agent vs GitHub Copilot: When to Use Which

GitHub Copilot and AI coding agents solve different problems. Copilot is your pair programmer—it suggests the next line, completes functions, and helps you stay in flow. AI coding agents are your async teammates—they take a feature description, branch off, write the code, and open a PR.

When to use GitHub Copilot

• You're actively coding and want inline suggestions
• You know what to build but want help with syntax and boilerplate
• You prefer to stay in the editor and review every change as it happens
• The scope is small—a function, a component, a quick fix

Copilot excels at accelerating the code you're already writing. It doesn't make decisions; it predicts the next token.

When to use an AI coding agent

• You have a backlog of features you haven't had time to build
• You want to parallelize—launch multiple agents on different features at once
• You're okay reviewing a PR instead of watching code appear line by line
• The scope is a feature—"Add Stripe checkout," "Implement dark mode," "Create an export endpoint"

Agents take a high-level prompt, plan the implementation, write the code, run verification, and open a PR. You review the result, not the process.

The hybrid approach

Many teams use both. Copilot for day-to-day coding. Agents for backlog items, repetitive features, or experiments you want to try without blocking your flow.

Paragent runs agents in parallel on your GitHub repos. Describe a feature, get a PR. Try it free.